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Monrovia,CA

Hello pumpkin growers!! I've never posted here before but have grown pumpkins for a few years now.....I was just wondering....does anyone else have problems with Mosaic Virus? Is it true that all you can do is pull the affected plants out? I've been trying to cut the affected parts off the plant in hopes that the "good" parts will still flourish. We are in S.California, where the Spring has been overcast and wet (June Gloom)
But aren't these conditions pretty normal for the Northwest, where many of the records are set? If so, how do they deal with these troubles?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope someone can provide some insight.

6/29/2003 12:22:55 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Has a lab confirmed it is indeed Mosaic? If so, there is nothing you can do but what you're doing. Make certain you dip the pruners you're using in a bleack/water solution (5-10%) between every cut. Also make sure to cut back far enough into health tissue to avoid leaving any affected tissue behind.

Remove ALL weeds from the area. Somewhere is the host plant. It could be one of the weeds. Aphids are the likely carrier from the host plant to your plants. Controlling aphids is always good. But they need to feed in order to pick up whatever you spray with. They die some time later. But they can transfer Mosaic in as little as 6 seconds I believe. Not many insecticides work that fast.

Some gardeners I know who have encountered Mosaic actually forbid the use of any type of tobacco in or near their gardens. Just letting a smoker into a succeptible crop area is asking for trouble sometimes.

This probably won't save the day however. If it really is Mosaic I am very sorry for you. It's probably the worst condition to try to manage in season. I hope this works out OK.

Have a real deal plant pathologist perform a laboratory test to make sure this is what we're really dealing with before doing anything drastic.

Good luck!

Steve

6/29/2003 10:51:45 PM

Monrovia,CA

Steve, thank you so much for your insights on this subject. I have not contacted a plant pathologist but will so on your recommendation. Unfortunately I have seen so many pictures and have read so much about it that there's really no doubt in my mind about what it is. I WISH I was wrong, as there's really not much that can be done. What a nice surprise it would be if a lab test proved otherwise!!! If you are interested, please contact me at Autumnloft@webtv.net and I can email pics of the affected parts. Unfortunately I am unable to keep a grower diary as it is not compatible with web tv. Ironically the virus has only affected the 'upper' pumpkin patch, and has apparently not had an effect on the lower patch, where the AG's are.....yet.
Steve, thankyou again for your advice.

Desparately hoping it isn't,
Michelle

6/30/2003 9:01:13 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Michelle,
If there is a second patch that is virus free, then sanitation is critical to it's survival. If tools & pruners must move between patches, dunk them in a 5% Bleach solution first. A spray bottle could be useful too. For shoes or boots or anything else that may come in contact with infected plants. Even hands can transfer this disease.

If it were me, I'd work the clean patch first, then the virus one. Wash even yourself before returning to the clean patch. I'd also leave the virus patch tools in that area exclusively until the season ends if that's possible.

Hopefully that won't be until the middle or end of October!

Best email address for photos here is:

ljepsen@optonline.net

Our cable modem smokes the phone modem especially when photos are involved.

Steve

6/30/2003 9:39:37 PM

Monrovia,CA

Steve, thanks for the email address....hope the photos came through clearly enough. I've gone and pulled the most affected plants out of the first patch and have made up a bleach solution for the cutters. Have decided to set a pair of gardening shoes in the AG patch for it's exclusive use. May also buy some new cutters for AG's only!
I'll keep you posted as to how things turn out!

Appreciatively,
Michelle

6/30/2003 11:47:54 PM

porterville,california usa

i`ve had mv several times in the past. each time the only thing i could do was pull the plant and burn it. last year i got it and decided to keep the plant alive as long as possible. i had a 100 lb pumpkin set and didn`t want to give up on it. the rest of my patch was soon infected and died. the plant stayed alive for 2 more months. one by one the leaves died. new growth appeared but soon died too. during the 2 months the pumpkin only gained 35 more lbs. but it was ugly. it was shaped like a pear on top and a box on bottom. it had big hideous warts and bumps and wrinkles. it was sort of yellow on one side with streaks of pink, green, red, puce, brown, and kind of looked like something had vomitted on it. it scared my wife, my grandkids wouldn`t go near my patch and the neighbors took up a petition to make me get rid of it. so i learned the hard way not to mess with THE virus. hope this helps:0)

7/1/2003 3:26:26 AM

Monrovia,CA

Hi Booth.....It does help to hear about other experiences of MV. Are you guys overcast and drizzling alot up there in Porterville? We had a spring that was this way and I've also noticed Powdery Mildew much earlier in the season as well.
Thanks for the input!
Michelle

7/1/2003 11:42:47 AM

porterville,california usa

so far this year we`ve been pretty lucky with the weather. i haven`t noticed any mildew this year. and very few bugs as well. it has been in the 100s off and on for the last month so i think it helps keep the mildew problem under control. last year a commercial pumpkin grower a few miles from me got mosiac early in the season. instead of discing it under, he let it lay and the whiteflies had a field day breeding in it. then they flew off spreading mv everywhere. i tried 4 times to grow a pumpkin last year, waiting a month between, and every time i got mosiac. my local nurseryman had me remove every single plant of any kind from my place.(except trees). told me not to use tobbacco around the patch and prescribed some pesticides. all this worked for a while but soon whiteflies came over from fields and neighbors and i was back where i started.the only cure i have found is winter frost. frost kills the bugs that spread it. it can survive in many other types of plants over the winter. then when the bugs come back in spring, they pick it up and start spreading all over again. i`ve found that secretly sneeking around the neighborhood at 3am spraying DDT and round-up as far as i can before daylight has helped considerably. i`ve become fond of dead-grass-brown instead of green and not Everyone is sterile in my neighborhood. heck, there`s even a few people on my block who aren`t sprouting extra limbs or odd shaped growths on their bods. good luck this season. booth

7/2/2003 3:43:21 AM